Roller skates and in-line skates may utilize different types of wheels depending upon a variety of conditions or preferences (wheel damage, skating surface type, ambient temperature, nature of use and skater preferences, for example). It is thus necessary for a skater to be able to change wheels on a skate to meet conditions if so desired by the skater.
Often, however, a wheel change is needed while skating or when tools (wrenches or the like) usually necessary to perform a skate wheel change are otherwise unavailable. Moreover, the requirement that tools be utilized to change skate wheels is undesirable generally, considering that many skaters are young or otherwise unfamiliar with manipulation of such tools and the skate hardware typically employed to secure (or release) an axle in a skate truck.
While various arrangements have been suggested and/or utilized for releasing wheels from a skate (often called "quick-release" or "quick-change" devices), such arrangements have not been met with wide acceptance and/or have not eliminated the need for tools to accomplish a wheel change (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,348,321, 5,277,437, 4,666,168, and 5,190,301). Further improvement could thus be utilized.